清末民初的「鬼」與「照相術」──狄葆賢《平等閣筆記》中的現代性魅影

“Ghosts” and “Photography” in Early 20th Century China: The Phantom of Modernity in Di Baoxian’s 狄葆賢 Pingdeng ge biji 平等閣筆記

本文嘗試以狄葆賢（1872-1941）《平等閣筆記》為對象，探析清末民初知識份子的精神世界。狄葆賢熱衷搜羅時人與鬼相接之事、重視以攝影術發明鬼學，並著力闡述宗教與鬼神並非迷信，記述言論時發表於報刊，有一定的讀者群及影響，在清末民初瀚如湮海的筆記中有其特殊性。因此，本文針對《平等閣筆記》的研究，旨在揭示晚清知識分子如何體現傳統與現代之間複雜的辯證。狄葆賢筆記熱衷記錄時人談鬼、遇鬼之事，對鬼攝影充滿興趣，此並非特例，而是同時代人共同的心理，它來自志怪筆記傳統之延伸，同時也是清末中國知識人對現代性視覺形式所做的回應。對鬼入照相，狄葆賢之所以深感著迷並有意識的提舉，緣於攝影術與靈魂學為當時西方世界新興的科學知識，他得以將這種思潮結合自己的佛學主張，轉化成符合潮流的文化詮釋工具，證明科學可以支持宗教或其他中國的文化傳統。因此，「鬼」與「照相術」實為清末民初知識份子精神世界的兩重隱喻，非但不能以新舊截然二分，也無法宣稱晚清現代性只有一副啟蒙面孔。更有可能的是，一種既古老又現代的精神世界，普遍存在於清末民初知識分子的內在思維中。《平等閣筆記》中「鬼」與「照相術」之間的思辨，並不能被簡單化約為迷信與科學、虛妄與真實，此二者在狄葆賢的思想中反而互為詮釋與化用，創造出新的文本與文化現象，留下深具張力與辯證的現代性反思空間。

This article explores and analyzes the spiritual world of intellectuals in early 20th century China through a study of Di Baoxian’s (1872-1941) Pingdeng ge biji. Di Baoxian was an enthusiastic collector of people’s ghost stories, and he emphasized the use of photography as a means of conducting psychical research. In addition, he devoted himself to demonstrating that religion, ghosts, and gods were not simply superstitious beliefs. He often published his viewpoints in newspapers or magazines, and he therefore had a certain readership and degree of influence. His Pingdeng ge biji was unique among the numerous notebooks of early 20th century China. The purpose of this article is to reveal how intellectuals of the late Qing navigated the complex dialectical issues between tradition and modernity. Di Baoxian was a passionate recorder of people’s ghost stories and their experiences encountering ghosts. He was very interested in ghost photography, and in this he was not alone, for it was common among people in the age. On the one hand, his perspective was an extension of Grotesque style novels; on the other, it represented a response to the modern visual form. The reason why Di Baoxian was so fascinated with taking pictures of ghosts and desired to make them popular was because photography and Parapsychology represented the newly emerging scientific knowledge of the West. He combined these ideas with his own Buddhist beliefs, and transformed them into interpretative cultural tools. He sought to demonstrate that science could lend support to both religion and the Chinese cultural tradition. Consequently, “ghosts” and “photography” are actually dual metaphors in the early 20th century Chinese spiritual world of the intellectual elite. They cannot be divided into old and new, and it cannot be claimed that modernity in the late Qing had only one enlightened facet. It is more likely that a spiritual world containing both ancient and modern elements existed in the inner thoughts of intellectuals in early 20th century China. In the Pingdeng ge biji, the distinction between “ghosts” and “photography” cannot simply be reduced to that between superstition and science, or falsity and truth. Instead, in Di Baoxian’s thought both are interpreted and used together, creating new texts and cultural phenomena, and leaving behind a modern introspective space characterized by strong tension and dialectical dialogues.